


Faith and Hope

by forlornwind



Series: Festival of Rarepairs [4]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Drama, M/M, Post-War, Romance, Slow Build, more tags to be added as I write more
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-17 08:43:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11271963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forlornwind/pseuds/forlornwind
Summary: Madara survives the Fourth Great Shinobi War.Gaara remembers the Dream.





	Faith and Hope

The only source of light was the fading orange hues that filtered through the closed window. The illumination gave the hushed room a sense of hope.

Hope is fading as the light wanes, the day sets as night rises. A beautiful, deadly contradiction. Of course, the day will start again.

But who on the land cares for the turning of the stars? Which miserable mortal looks forward to the renewing of days, to the addition of years?

It is but a step closer towards death.

All mortals should dread the day! And pray for a long, long, unyielding night!

The orange hues mixed with dark tones radiating from the massive figure lying on his side. Silent, steady breaths signal the only movements of a strong torso. He was on a hunt, poised and eyes unmoving, his prey the last light of the sun.

The clock ticks.

The tiger rustles its fur.

A paw is eager.

White sheets crease on the long edge as a palm draws open. An arm lifts slightly, catching at air… _No, the sun is setting.. It’s setting._

 

The sun sets.

 

So does his hand, returning to tug in his chest.

 

 

-

 

 

The vibrations of the floor felt familiar. A nurse was doing her rounds, and a… visitor..?

It has been a while since anyone paid him a visit. His mind made a list of those people, attached a name and a face, then scrolled through the list as the door opened…

 

_Uzumaki Naruto whiskers_

_Tsunade green eyes_

_Kakashi masked_

_Ay and B_

_Terumi Mei hair_

_Oonoki flying_

( they seem to all be kages or so… )

And that leaves… …

Perhaps the dominating and cold back nerfed any greeting, or the disdain most nurses bore for him silenced any address, so the room remained eerily pacific except for the shuffling of papers on a table not too far from his feet.

Some pills drop into a small cup. The gurgle of water into a long glass and a restless ‘hmph!’ preceded a pair of legs leaving the ward.

As long as the pills and water were empty within the next two hours, no one tried to rush Madara to take them.

Gaara watched the entirety of the scene with a curious glint in his eyes. His gaze followed the nurse’s actions, his heart felt her dislike and restlessness. Gaara understood why she was like this - why most people were like this against Madara - but he also could not help but feel a remote sense of pity for the man.

_“The Black thing came up behind him and stabbed him through the chest for some reason! What a save!” Naruto exclaimed for the moment, but quickly retracted his ecstasy. “I mean, of course Kaguya was nothing good, too, but holy hell.... What happened was really-”_

**What happened was really confounding.**

Yet it pulled at Gaara’s heart. He had went arbitrarily silent as Naruto explained to everyone what had happened during the Great Sleep.

Gaara remembers his Dream. It was a scene he has always wanted. A happy family, an accepted, corrected, blissful childhood. He had wondered for a few weeks if such a dream was what everyone else had as well. Did other people also dreamt of getting back what they’ve lost? How did they react after waking up? How did they feel?

**_How should he feel?_ **

The man who tried to slaughter everyone, was the same person who painted the picture of beautiful children and wonderful, wholesome families. How could this be? How could someone who NEVER experienced any of these, could re-imagine happiness… and give it to everyone who survived? It was difficult for Gaara to accept, to understand. Hence why it took him so long before he agreed to visit Madara. This was the last week of his stay in Konohagakure, and he would like to close this chapter behind him. Go back to Suna with a clear head and lead for a better tomorrow.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I hope I can be focused enough to continue this as Gaara x Madara is something that's been on my mind for a long while.


End file.
